diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/efuse.c b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/efuse.c
index 2e945554ed6d592712af9b56a7d404a7b09b5762..6c8efd2b2642690bd00045d0890b90e6d09b8b53 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/efuse.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/efuse.c
@@ -162,10 +162,19 @@ void efuse_write_1byte(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, u16 address, u8 value)
 void read_efuse_byte(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, u16 _offset, u8 *pbuf)
 {
 	struct rtl_priv *rtlpriv = rtl_priv(hw);
+	u16 max_attempts = 10000;
 	u32 value32;
 	u8 readbyte;
 	u16 retry;
 
+	/*
+	 * In case of USB devices, transfer speeds are limited, hence
+	 * efuse I/O reads could be (way) slower. So, decrease (a lot)
+	 * the read attempts in case of failures.
+	 */
+	if (rtlpriv->rtlhal.interface == INTF_USB)
+		max_attempts = 10;
+
 	rtl_write_byte(rtlpriv, rtlpriv->cfg->maps[EFUSE_CTRL] + 1,
 		       (_offset & 0xff));
 	readbyte = rtl_read_byte(rtlpriv, rtlpriv->cfg->maps[EFUSE_CTRL] + 2);
@@ -178,7 +187,7 @@ void read_efuse_byte(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, u16 _offset, u8 *pbuf)
 
 	retry = 0;
 	value32 = rtl_read_dword(rtlpriv, rtlpriv->cfg->maps[EFUSE_CTRL]);
-	while (!(((value32 >> 24) & 0xff) & 0x80) && (retry < 10000)) {
+	while (!(((value32 >> 24) & 0xff) & 0x80) && (retry < max_attempts)) {
 		value32 = rtl_read_dword(rtlpriv,
 					 rtlpriv->cfg->maps[EFUSE_CTRL]);
 		retry++;